Michael Saylor told Dave Portnoy that bitcoin only mimics stocks short term because traders dump the most liquid assets first—masking its true long-term independence.
Michael Saylor Explains Why Bitcoin Acts Like a Risk Asset—But Only for Now
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Michael Saylor Explains Bitcoin’s Short-Term Risk Behavior—And Why It’s Misunderstood
Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of Strategy, aka Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), commented on bitcoin’s market behavior on April 4, addressing its classification as a risk asset during a discussion on social media platform X. He explained:
Bitcoin trades like a risk asset short term because it’s the most liquid, salable, 24/7 asset on Earth. In times of panic, traders sell what they can, not what they want to. Doesn’t mean it’s correlated long-term—just means it’s always available.
The comment was part of a public thread on X initiated by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who posed a question about BTC’s relationship with traditional markets.
Portnoy asked: “I have a dumb bitcoin/ crypto question. If the point of bitcoin is to be independent of the U.S. dollar and non regulated, why does it basically trade exactly like the U.S. stock market nowadays? Market up bitcoin up. Market down bitcoin down.” Saylor followed with an additional post: “ Bitcoin is most volatile because it is most useful.”
The question of whether bitcoin is “risk-on” or “risk-off” remains an active discussion among analysts and investors. In recent years, BTC has shown strong correlations with major equity indexes, especially technology stocks, reinforcing its perception as a risk-on asset. However, some analysts argue that the cryptocurrency’s long-term fundamentals—including a fixed supply and decentralized nature—may allow it to behave more like a risk-off asset over time.
Blackrock Inc.’s digital asset head, Robert Mitchnick, for example, has described bitcoin as a “risk-off” asset. He previously stated:
We think that there’s been a kind of misconception that’s frankly been perpetuated by a lot of crypto research and other publications characterizing bitcoin as a risk-on asset.
Saylor has consistently promoted bitcoin as a superior store of value to fiat currencies, projecting a long-term valuation of $13 million per BTC. His company, Strategy, has made substantial acquisitions and currently holds 528,185 BTC, the largest amount held by any publicly traded corporation.
